


Legacy

by journeycat



Category: PIERCE Tamora - Works, Protector of the Small - Tamora Pierce, Tortall - Tamora Pierce
Genre: F/M, Minor Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-12
Updated: 2015-09-12
Packaged: 2018-04-20 07:50:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4779524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/journeycat/pseuds/journeycat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Every man leaves behind a legacy, no matter how small.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Legacy

**Author's Note:**

> Written for SMACKDOWN: Team Faleron at Goldenlake in March 2010.

Neal walked in on her meticulous knitting and double-checked the nameplate, making sure he was in the right room.

“Keladry of Mindelan?” he asked in disbelief. “Are you knitting?”

She smiled at him, resting the utensils and half-finished blanket on her swollen belly. “Yes,” she said. “Contrary to popular belief, I am perfectly capable of doing womanly things.”

He crossed his arms and leaned against the doorframe, watching her. “You’re near the end of your term,” he remarked. “Father says he thinks the baby will be born next week.”

Her heart skipped a beat. “I know.”

“Are you nervous?”

“A little.”

“I’ll be right there.”

“I know.”

He uncrossed his arms and wandered into the room, his eyes shifting to the coat of armor standing in the corner, as they always did. It was made of the finest material that Raven Armory had to offer, slightly battered and well-worn but still in pristine condition. She idly reached out her hand and stroked the arm, drifting back to a time of bright love and sweet kisses.

“Did he know?”

“What?”

“Before he was killed—did he know?”

Kel stared at him, surprised. She had been so careful; the paternity was something she didn’t want to make public, because she didn’t think she could handle the pitying, sympathetic looks. “How—how did—”

“How did I know?” Neal’s smile was pained. He took one of her hands in his own. “I fought beside him long enough. I would recognize Faleron’s armor anywhere.”

She bowed her head, fighting back emotion.

“You wrote both of us when we were on the border,” he continued. “He read your letters like I read Yuki’s—like they were the most precious things in the world. When he talked about you, his voice changed. Kel, he would’ve married you if he had come back from the border.”

She didn’t know she was crying until he gently wiped the tears from her face. “How’d you manage to convince the countess to part with her son’s armor?”

She half-laughed. “She knows,” she said. “I told her that Faleron’s child needed to grow up and know whose armor he or she must fill. She agreed. I didn’t expect her to believe me.”

Neal shrugged. “She knew,” he suggested. “Mothers always know.”

_They do_ , she thought, laying a hand on her belly. She felt a ripple as the baby kicked. _And this mother knows that you’ll make your father proud, my little one_.


End file.
